Water Kefir

Another Fizzy Ferment

Kombucha and water kefir are both bubbly, probiotic, fermented beverages. Water kefir is made with sweetened water rather than the sweetened tea used to make kombucha. They’re both made by a symbiotic relationship of healthy bacteria and yeast to ferment a sweet liquid. Whereas a scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) is used to make the kombucha, water kefir grains are used to make water kefir. The term “grains” refers to the look of the culture. They are gluten free and don’t actually contain any grains or wheat. Unlike a kombucha scoby that grows in one large mass, kefir grains are smaller, translucent colonies of bacteria and yeast that float in the liquid. Both cultures grow and reproduce.

Water kefir has a slightly sweet slightly sour taste that many people think is lighter in flavour than kombucha.

Water kefir also has a shorter ferment time than kombucha and has different strains of beneficial bacteria and probiotics. We like to say that the power of probiotics is on diversity and the more different types of fermented food you eat all help to colonize your gut and improve digestion.

Just like kombucha, the sugar isn’t for you; it’s for the culture. Sugar is necessary for fermentation and to feed the water kefir grains. The majority of the sugar has been processed out by the time it's ready to drink.

Our organic water kefir comes from Happy Gut and is flavoured, bottled and distributed from the MotherLove kombucha brewery.

If you’re interested in learning how to make water kefir and milk kefir we’d love to see you at one of our workshops!